Skin MD Shielding Lotion Review!

I'm a little late to the party, and I know all the cool kids have reviewed the Skin MD Shielding Lotion weeks ago, and have held their giveaways weeks ago too, but I wanted to use it for at least 2-3 weeks before saying anything about it. And also, I was bogged down with work in real life (wow, I can't believe I actually have a life outside this blog. Sometimes I surprise myself. LOL). But eventually, I got round to it.

I actually quite like it, and I think if you have normal to oily skin, you probably would like it too. But it may not be for you if your skin is severely dry.

First of all, the bottle is pretty huge, especially if you're going to be using it only for your face. It's 120ml/4oz, which is a lot bigger than most face moisturizers, and it comes with a pretty handy dispenser, so you don't have to dip your fingers into a pot, and you can squeeze out the exact amount you need.



The product itself is not shabby at all. It has a very light, gel-like, almost watery texture, that I think will find favour with girls who live in hot and humid climates (my dear Singapore comes to mind), and for girls with oily skins. It's also transparent in colour, although when you first dispense it in a blob it looks milky white. The only thing though, is that it has this smell that reminds me of a doctor's office, which fades quickly upon application. There isn't any fragrance in the produt though, so I guess that's how products smell like without fragrance:



However as you can see, once you rub it in, it becomes transparent and absorbs really quickly:



And this is the final result:



If you compare it with the first picture, I do think it does make my skin smoother. In fact, it acts as a really good primer, too - I noticed that after using this, my makeup goes on a lot smoother, and it seems to stay on pretty well too. I think this is in part due to the two silicones that are inside the product, cyclopentasiloxane and dimethicone. Silicones are generally used to give 'slip' and lubrication to a product, which is why so many primers use silicones. As far as I know, these two particular silicones are considered to be harmless to skin, and dimethicone is often considered to have beneficial effects on the skin too (which is why it is often found in skincare products). And cyclopentasiloxane evaporates soon after you apply it because it is pretty volatile (it is used to 'spread out' thicker silicones like dimethicone, and evaporates after doing its job), so I don't think this should be an issue for silicone-sensitive skins. However if you are cautious about the silicones or particularly adversely sensitive to them, then you might want to get a sample before trying. After all, everyone's skin reacts differently to different ingredients, and you know your skin best.

For me, however, I did not experience any adverse effects, which usualy signals a good product. Those of you who know me know that I break out from anything and everything - Nars blushes, Smashbox blushes, concealers, foundations, even makeup removers, and basically anything with isopropyl palmitate, isopropyl myristate, and mineral oil (don't ask me why - I know technically it isn't pore-clogging but my skin is fussy OK?). And sometimes, I even break out for no reason at all (stupid hormones). And you'll also know that my skin is aggravated by anything and everything - moisturizers sting my face, while makeup removers and mascaras sting my eyes. Anyway this means that I have to be really fussy over ingredients, and over time I've learnt to scan the ingredients list of any makeup or skincare item before buying it to know if it is going to break me out or not. I'm not a pro, by any means, but I know enough to tell if it's going to break me out or not. The ingredients list is pretty mild for this one - it's mainly water, extracts from various plants (like aloe vera, chamomile etc), the two silicones, and a bunch of cross polymers and alcohols which act mainly as preservatives, stabiliers, and give the product it's gel-like texture. So nothing particularly irritating in this one. (More information about individual ingredients can be found HERE.) And after 2-3 weeks of use, my skin didn't break out in pimples (which usually happens after 1 week if there is something odd inside it), my skin didn't sting when I applied it (usually a sign that a product is too harsh), and I thought my skin looked better and was moisturized.

Now is there anything bad I have to say about this? Well, yeah, there is. I think that while this product was moisturizing, it is actually quite light, and it probably wouldn't be good for those girls who are used to heavily moisturizing creams, or who experience very dry skin, or very strong and harshly dry weather. So if you're one of those girls who use Physiogel (aka Impruv cream in the USA) then this will be very thin and watery by comparison. But I do think it would be good for girls who want a light moisturizer in summer or hot weather, and for girls with oily skin - the silicones really help to prime the skin for makeup quite well, and prevent it sliding off.

So that's it for this review, folks, and I guess you don't even need me to tell you I'll be doing a giveaway for this product, so if you've liked what you've read, come back for the giveaway!

Ingredients: Deionized water (Aqua), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract (Aloe Vera), Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Methyl Gluceth-20, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Arnica Montana Flower Extract (Arnica), Symphytum Officinale Leaf Extract (Comfrey), Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Extract (Chamomile), Achillea Millefolium Extract (Yarrow), Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, 1,2 Hexanediol, Caprylyl Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Aminomethyl Propanol, Phenoxyethanol

This product was sent to me for consideration by Skin MD for review purposes. I was not paid for this review, nor am I affiliated to Skin MD. There were no strings attached to this review, and this review, as with all my other reviews, consists only and entirely of my honest, unbiased, and forthright opinion of this product.